April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and as part of a collaborative effort, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association, the Georgia Department of Highway Safety and retired NBA player Shaquille O'Neal have teamed up to educate young drivers of the potential dangers.

The "Ghost Out" program features a series of reenactments, speakers and presentations designed to let teen drivers at Georgia high schools know that every second they are distracted behind the wheel creates the potential for a fatal crash.

Study finds 1 in every 4 accidents involves cell phone use

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, accidents involving distractions account for nearly half of all roadway fatalities, or about 5,000 annually. Distractions can also be blamed on approximately 450,000 injuries each year.

Another recent report from the National Safety Council indicates that 1 of every 4 wrecks can be attributed to cell phone use. Interestingly, only a small portion of those are blamed on text messaging, though teens are more prone to texting than other drivers.

What is especially scary about this revelation is the fact that most people don't view talking on the phone as being especially dangerous. This kind of faulty thinking is perpetuated by the fact that while all states have some form of text messaging ban, none ban talking on a phone for all drivers. What's more, none forbid hands-free cell phone devices, despite the fact that research has proven they are equally as dangerous as handheld devices.

In Georgia, all drivers are forbidden from text messaging, and it's considered a primary offense, meaning officers can pull over a driver solely for violation of this statute. However, only school bus drivers and those drivers under the age of 18 are banned from talking on a phone while driving.

Perhaps it's no wonder, then, that the latest NSC research found that 80 percent of drivers believe that hands-free cell phones are safer. This is despite the fact that more than 30 studies in recent years have proven that when it comes to the level of distraction, hands-free devices affect the brain the same way as handheld cell phones.

Research suggests driving distracted more dangerous than drunk driving

Here's another reality of which many teens may not be aware: Researchers with the University of Utah recently found that drivers who were using their cell phones actually had slower reaction times than those who had a blood-alcohol content of 0.08 percent. While it may take a drunk person hours to sober up, a person on a cell phone can immediately eliminate the risk by simply hanging up.

Meanwhile, those who drive drunk are hit with heavy fines and penalties, while those who are caught driving while distracted are treated far more leniently.

New drivers especially need to be taught that just because the law hasn't quite caught up with the research doesn't mean that talking or texting on a phone is any safer or better than driving drunk.

Traffic crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens in Georgia, claiming some 175 young lives in this state annually and injuring countless other young motorists.

Largely, these incidents are preventable. To learn more about initiating a Distracted Driving Family Contract with your teen, visit the the NSC's website here.

Call the Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C. at 1-800-898-HAYS to schedule a free consultation.

If you are among the 10 to 15 percent of people who suffer from chronic insomnia, sleeping pills may seem like the answer to your prayers. Unfortunately, these medications may significantly increase the risk of becoming involved in a motor vehicle collision. In fact, one recent study showed that a person who filled a prescription for a sleep aid at a pharmacy had double the risk of a traffic collision within the first week.

The risk of a collision caused by sleeping pill use is not uniform among all drivers. People who are on multiple different types of medications and people who are over the age of 80 may be in the greatest danger of being involved in a collision. Innocent victims could also be harmed by an accident that is caused by a motorist impaired by sleeping pills. Those harmed in an accident should contact accident attorneys in Atlanta for information about their right to pursue a claim for damages.

Are Sleeping Pills Putting Your Life At Risk?

Sleeping pill use has increased dramatically. A decade ago, around two percent of the U.S. population took a prescription sleeping pill. Now, 3.5 percent of the population is on some type of sleep aid. This amounts to about six million people who use "z-drugs" including zopliclone, zolpidem, nitrazepam and flunitrazepam.

Sleeping pill use is especially common among people who have other physical or mental problems in addition to insomnia. For example, anxiety, depression, bipolar disorder and other types of mental illnesses can also affect sleep patterns and can thus necessitate a prescription for a medical solution. Physical ailments such as arthritis can also result in sleep trouble, especially for seniors. This helps to explain why around five percent of people over the age of 80 are on sleeping pills. Seniors have actually become the heaviest users of sleep medication.

This is bad news for road safety for many reasons. First, people who suffer from insomnia along with other physical problems are more likely to be on multiple sedating medications. Second, people over the age of 80 are already at greater risk of motor vehicle collisions due to age-related declines in vision and in cognitive function. The use of sleeping pills exacerbates these problems and makes elderly motorists even less safe at a time when 500 seniors per day are already injured in collisions.

The number of people on multiple sedating medications is very high. One recent study showed that 55 percent of people taking sleeping pills were also on other drugs that had a sedating effect, including opioid pain killers or Xanax, Ativan and other benzodiazepines. As many as 10 percent of people were taking three or more sedating drugs.

Drivers need to ensure that they do not put themselves at risk of accidents with the drugs that they are taking. Roadwise RX can be used to enter your medications and obtain confidential information about how the drugs you take will impact your ability to safely drive.

Accident attorneys in Atlanta can help after a car accident. Call Gary Martin Hays at 1-800-898-HAYS to schedule a free consultation.